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The majority of my team with second nationalities are actually half-Jamaicans , but we have some Serbians too.

Some specific clubs are more likely to have specific second nationalities. For example: the Dayton Dutch Lions can expect to have Americans with Dutch second nationality. Similarly, the Serbian White Eagles will have mostly Canadian/Serbs.

Now if a club for example Chinese Dragons FC existed in the North American leagues, I would totally manage that club.

I created a club in Markham in my fantasy Canadian structure that was linked to China (i.e., newgens predominantly had Chinese names)... :-)

Well, the goal of the game is to score more goals than your opponent...right? If they score 3, I gotta score 4 at least!!!

Originally Posted by Scarman

At least no one can excuse you of playing boring football

I can already think of a Markham Marauders billboard. 'Think soccer is boring? Then watch the Markham Marauders soccer at Walker Park to change your mind! Fantastic entertainment with tickets as low as $5!!!'

Loving this so far. Amazing world cup run by the Americans, and glad to see Philadelphia have been nowhere near the relegation zone and based on the last club value chart moving on up in the standnings soon!

Keep up the awesome work and hopefully I'll see you clash with the Union soon enough

Hey rancer. Been hearing about that new stadium that is being proposed for Markham, a 19 000 seat NHL ready one. Is that a go? Are they were going to be able to bring in another franchise when the Maple Leafs don't want it? I thought Toronto owns the rights for all of lower Ontario. Would love another team there and the population can definitely support it; just didn't think that the Maple Leafs would back down, especially over the controversy of Hamilton a few years ago.

Apparently, the stadium's on the cusp of approval. I can't see the Leafs allowing another team. Especially one that's much closer to the Air Canada Centre than either Hamilton or the Jim Balsille Kitchener-Waterloo team would have been.

The NHL's basically given the Leafs a veto on this - I can't even begin to calculate how many millions they would demand to allow it.

cerud, the Leafs aren't going to give up territorial rights in Southern Ontario, much less one in the GTA...the NHL will let them veto any moves for any potential franchises coming into their area. Like Toronto Blizzard said, the incoming franchise would have to give up a huge sum to MLSE, and it's not like Bell and Rogers need the money when they can buy 3 sports teams, the arena, buildings, several TV stations for $2 billion...

Maybe Hedley could perform there, but not much else other than concerts...Quebec City, Kansas City, and even Seattle if they can get a new arena and ownership interest are more realistic than a second Toronto team.

I'd be happy with Seattle. The West needs more teams in good markets in order to move another team to the East (Detriot anyone? ) Plus there would be an instant revalry with Vancouver...because that's what they need...more rivalries...

Plus the Leafs and Sabres own a joint veto on any new club in southern Ontario. Not bad. Quebec City just is not big enough to warrant a team. The NHL already had to change their bylaws on risk size just to allow Winnipeg back in because the MT Centre was too small by the previous bylaws. Kansas City would be alright...don't know much about that market.

Standings | Past Positions | Fixtures - A very easy season for us as we clinched the league title with 4 games to go! We broke the goals scored record in the league, and we were only 2 points away from breaking the points record. North American Open Cup - Unlucky we couldn't get to the 1st round proper this season.

Colonial Cup - We did great in this competition, finishing it off with a win with our classic, go up 3-0, and nearly blow the lead in the end style of play! Or similar to the 2012 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Ontario Cup - lost at the first stage. Nothing new to report here so I won't even bother with a screenshot!

Squad - Our squad relied on 3 players - all youth products - for goals this season. But overall it was a great team effort!!!

Youth Players:

Radford Sinclair (YP 2012) - He had a great season, but yikes he's asking for $72,000 on a part-time contract! He's good, but not $72 grand good...hope his demands decrease greatly in December, I would even accept if he wanted $36k (although I would want a 2 or 3 year contract, at least I have wage certainty), but it's a tough decision with his sky-high wage demand.

Anthony Baker (YP 2013) - Solid season again, and he's only asking $11k a year! I hope I can get him locked up to a 3 year part-time contract.

Brian Hussein (YP 2015) - A bit of a part-time player since there's competition at his position. He's still considered a good USL-East player in the future so that's good.

Traitor Update:

Dennis Campbell (YP 2016) - Mobile Pelicans - 22 apps, 1 goal, 2 assists, 6.68 rating. His team made the playoffs but hope they lose and stay in tier 7! What an idiot he was, he could have gone to a team getting to the 5th tier.

survive but of course I want to do well because we need the money. 13th place in the Colonial Premier League has $200,000 prize money, which is the same as winning the Colonial Division 2, so that's my goal next season. Get 13th place!

figure out what to do with Radford Sinclair...we have several free agents but most of them will not have outrageous demands. But Rotundo and Sinclair want over $70,000 on PART-TIME CONTRACTS, and that will cripple my wage structure...

I'd be happy with Seattle. The West needs more teams in good markets in order to move another team to the East (Detriot anyone? ) Plus there would be an instant revalry with Vancouver...because that's what they need...more rivalries...

Plus the Leafs and Sabres own a joint veto on any new club in southern Ontario. Not bad. Quebec City just is not big enough to warrant a team. The NHL already had to change their bylaws on risk size just to allow Winnipeg back in because the MT Centre was too small by the previous bylaws. Kansas City would be alright...don't know much about that market.

Detroit can't move east. West needs them for ticket sales.

Sabres rely on the Toronto market for fans and they blocked Hamilton and I'm sure they'll block Markham too because it would affect their ticket sales to a degree. The NHL couldn't find any buyer for the Thrashers to stay in Atlanta and only Winnipeg showed up so they moved quickly. It's unique and it probably won't be like that for Phoenix or the Islanders since there's apparently still hope the Coyotes will stay in Phoenix and Isles staying till 2015 at least unless they can move to Brooklyn or Queens. Or else Wang moves them to Quebec City or KC.

There was a KC franchises called the Scouts, then later the Colorado Rookies, and moved again to New Jersey. I don't even know if there's an AHL or ECHL team in Kansas City...some Southeast markets (Nashville, Tampa, Raleigh) worked because they're winning or have won cups. Those 3 are stable now though.

Originally Posted by Toronto Blizzard

I'm surprised Bettman hasn't made noise about Las Vegas again. He's clearly wedded to that "sunbelt" strategy. I wonder if the Markham stadium group would push for an AHL team...

No one wants to touch Vegas yet, because of the gambling...

AHL teams relocate sometimes, so the Markham Centre could be viable for an AHL team but they probably need to replace a current one. Maybe become Vancouver or Edmonton's affiliate? Both of their AHL affiliates are based in the US and quite far from the parent clubs.

It was pretty easy and there was no way we weren't going to get promoted.

Originally Posted by B.W.G

A brilliant season and lets all laugh at the traitor

The loser couldn't even help his team get promoted from tier 7.

--

Several players are asking around $70,000 a year on semi-pro contracts, and I've made a decision to only sign Sinclair to that amount, to a 3 year contract. It might cripple me but hopefully we've have more funds to pay players when his contract ends...

Cosmos ain't leading the league in salaries anymore! But they did win the regular season title.

----

Big money players are leaving the league after they make a name for themselves in MLS.

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I know it might be a bit bland with these four screenshots every season, but frankly, I'm too busy with my club team to think much about the higher tiers, much less the highest one! Hopefully an MLS club outside of the Canadian ones get relegated so there's something interesting to report...

Markham Marauders resign former local youth product to biggest contract in club history

MARKHAM - The Markham Marauders, recently winning promotion to the 5th tier of North American soccer, Head Coach/General Manager Ricky Nakano, and striker Radford Sinclair have announced an agreement to a 3 year contract extension until the end of the 2019 season. The terms of the new contract are believed to about $62,000 annually according to various sources.

The team has also reached a 2 year agreement with Tyler Bishop. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

"The club and Sinclair are happy to agree on this new contract of historical proportions," Nakano stated, "the success of the club from top to bottom have given us this opportunity to commit to such a fantastic player long term yet give us the flexibility to compete at the next level. He has worked very hard over the last couple seasons and he definitely deserves. We as a club take pride with our unique 'youth only' policy that doesn't occur anywhere in the world at any level of soccer and we will continue to have this policy."

When told that a couple other managers in the world, notably one Liechtensteiner club, and a Spanish club who are flying up the divisions into La Liga, Nakano simply replied: "Well, good for them and I wish them all the best."

As for Sinclair, he simply stated "I'm excited that I'm able to stay with the Markham Marauders for another 3 seasons. The faith and support from everyone, from the man above, the Markham Marauders organization with (owner) Mr. Donaldson, Mr. Nakano, and the coaching staff, and definitely my teammates since I joined the club."

When asked about this 'man above', Sinclair told the reporters "my papa. We live in the same apartment but he lives one floor above me. So he's the man above. Watcha thinking? That I was going to all Tim Tebow or Jeremy Lin on you guys??"

When asked about this 'man above', Sinclair told the reporters "my papa. We live in the same apartment but he lives one floor above me. So he's the man above. Watcha thinking? That I was going to all Tim Tebow or Jeremy Lin on you guys??"

And our youth product of 2017 (who I will confirm that he is NOT stolen from us ):

Enrico Cavalluzzo - Wowwwww. His current ability according to my ass man? A good USL Pro-East player, and already automatic starter on the first team. Potential? A decent Major League Soccer striker!!!!! Jackpot.

We managed to sign all our youths except Cordon, which was a bit annoying because he was our second best player in the intake. Traitors will only be the YP if they get scooped, but really wished of all of them after Cavalluzzo, I could have kept Cordon...

For now, he'll be called 'TRAITOR #2'. Not gonna waste my time trying to think of a cool nickname for him.

Hopefully as we go up the tiers we'll lose less of the good players...

And in team related news, 3 of our youngsters are headed to the the CONCACAF U20 Tournament: goalkeeper John Cain and left back Pedro Lopez will be joining Canada, while Navin Simon will represent Jamaica. I won't mind them joining the national teams because they won't miss more than a game or two and gives them some international experience.

I'd be happy with Seattle. The West needs more teams in good markets in order to move another team to the East (Detriot anyone? ) Plus there would be an instant revalry with Vancouver...because that's what they need...more rivalries...

Plus the Leafs and Sabres own a joint veto on any new club in southern Ontario. Not bad. Quebec City just is not big enough to warrant a team. The NHL already had to change their bylaws on risk size just to allow Winnipeg back in because the MT Centre was too small by the previous bylaws. Kansas City would be alright...don't know much about that market.

Being a Michigan man and a Detroit fan for well on 30 years now, Detroit fans absolutely want to go to the East. We loved the proposed re-alignment because even though it didn't send us to an Eastern Conference, it still had us in a division that was just Eastern-Central time zones. As it stands, we have a lot of away games that don't start until 10 pm Detroit time, which makes it tough on the fans to watch.

Originally Posted by Toronto Blizzard

I'm surprised Bettman hasn't made noise about Las Vegas again. He's clearly wedded to that "sunbelt" strategy. I wonder if the Markham stadium group would push for an AHL team...

Friend of mine who's lived in Las Vegas says they desperately want a major league team, but he's not sure just how well they would draw for hockey. Not so much because of the Sun Belt aspect, but because you have a lot of transplanted Northerners who already have their own loyalties, and because the nature of the economy in Las Vegas means a lot of your residents are working night shift.

Apparently the ECHL team every now and then has a game with a midnight start time, to try to be available for those shift workers.

Cheers Scarman. Cavalluzzo looks good attribute wise, but Baker and Sinclair seem to have the chemistry so far atm...

Originally Posted by cerud

Tough on losing Cordon. I also like the crossover to BWG and Scarman! Might steal that news idea from you if you don't mind

Go ahead cerud I won't mind.

Originally Posted by SRL88

Some excellent prospects through there.

The excellent youth coaching is paying dividends!!! At a cost...

Originally Posted by AK22

No more Serbians this year

If you said the name 'Mitch Fletcher' to me, I wouldn't think he's Serbian.

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Season has been average, it's a lot tougher this year. Also compounded by the fact we lose $50,000 a month even though we're selling out our imaginary 500 all seater..it's not the wages, but youth setup, so I'm undecided whether to downgrade and spend ~$25,000 less a month on youth setup.

Being a Michigan man and a Detroit fan for well on 30 years now, Detroit fans absolutely want to go to the East. We loved the proposed re-alignment because even though it didn't send us to an Eastern Conference, it still had us in a division that was just Eastern-Central time zones. As it stands, we have a lot of away games that don't start until 10 pm Detroit time, which makes it tough on the fans to watch.

----

Friend of mine who's lived in Las Vegas says they desperately want a major league team, but he's not sure just how well they would draw for hockey. Not so much because of the Sun Belt aspect, but because you have a lot of transplanted Northerners who already have their own loyalties, and because the nature of the economy in Las Vegas means a lot of your residents are working night shift.

Apparently the ECHL team every now and then has a game with a midnight start time, to try to be available for those shift workers.

Everyone in Detroit wants to move East. Re-alignment will probably be part of the new CBA because I don't think Winnipeg will want to be in the Southeast for another season. Sucks to be a Wings fan (ok, not really since you have celebrated lots of Cups ), but it really depends on the Coyotes situation right now (Islanders won't have to worry till 2015).

---

Interesting about Vegas. I'm not sure if millionaires are willing to play at midnight though...

Unfortunately, the NHL has already been decided for next season and it'll be the same. After the NHLPA vetoed the potential restructuring, they weren't able to get in a new plan before arenas needed league schedules. Hopefully the CBA fixes this for 2013-2014...

Standings | Past Positions | Fixtures - I am shocked. I didn't expect this, even though at the end of the season, we really had bad form. Although we only did lose 4 youth products to injury during that span, and only one of the 4 managed to be match fit enough to play the final match. USL-Pro East, here we come!!!North American Open Cup - We finally made it past the 1st Round proper, but promptly got destroyed by a USL-Pro East club. Hopefully not a vision of things to come next season...

Colonial Cup - We won't be in this competition next year, but unfortunately we lost in the final in a terrible performance by my team.

Ontario Cup - We made it to the semis, but unfortunately, we had the Toronto FC Reserves, and they killed us.

Squad - A small squad, but we had key contributors from a lot of players.

Youth Players:

Radford Sinclair (YP 2012) - Alright season. He wasn't going to live up to his wage, but he contributed. Unfortunately, he missed 9 weeks this season due to injury and still has 2 years left on his contract after this year.

Anthony Baker (YP 2013) - He's been inconsistent here and there, but he managed to score 10 league goals. He has score double digits in league goals for 5 years now, although it might end when we're in USL-Pro East

I wouldn't be surprised if we got relegated. On the bright side even finishing last gets you $300,000, so it's not that bad.

Our stadium has 500 seats, we got 477 of those filled this season on average. Next season, we will definitely sell out the other 23 seats. If the Town of Markham are willing to build the GTA Centre, surely they wouldn't mind developing a 5000 seat soccer specific stadium that has room for stadium expansions for the only sports team in the area . We definitely need a new stadium, how we're going to get the funds, I have no idea.

Toronto FC has finally won something!!!! Unfortunately, it's the equivalent of the NHL's Presidents Trophy which is quite useless...they choked in the playoffs at the first hurdle. Sporting Kansas City, formerly the Kansas City Wizards, formerly the Kansas City Wiz, have found won the MLS Cup.

So I got good news and bad (ok, not really bad, but really annoyed about it ) news:

The good:

As you can see, the board are in the planning stages of building a new stadium in Markham! Thank you Markham city council!!!

The (slightly) bad and annoying thing:

I HAVE NO INFORMATION ABOUT IT...I totally overlooked my mails about it. How big? No idea. The name? Errr...Markham Maruaders Stadium?? Wild guess. The cost?? Erm I dunno..first time I ever had the board build a new stadium, and I have no idea about it...

But nonetheless, it's nice we're getting out of Walker Park with those 500 imaginary seats in 3 years!!!

EDIT: actually found out that that the board didn't tell me anything about this new stadium, no news item and this just popped out of nowhere...so not sure what to expect of this new stadium. But at least the board had enough common sense to plan to build one.

I don't think I'll be getting in the 3rd tier just yet, and who knows whether I can survive the 4th tier which is the professional tier..so you can probably get promoted to the 6th tier and beyond really soon to catch up with me.

Congrats on the promotion and nice to see them build a stadium with actual real seats.If you have to wait 3 years for the new stadium then they will probably announce it at the end of next season,that's what they did with me and Vitoria.

Does it tell you anything about the new stadium in your Facilities tab? I know for me, it told me that I was expected to move into my stadium on a certain date, but also told me capacity.

Nope cerud. I checked but nothing...

Originally Posted by SRL88

Nice to see attendances steadily rising as well. Making excellent strides.

The attendance was a bit up and down over the years, but we'll be filling it up for a while now!

Originally Posted by B.W.G

Congrats on the promotion and nice to see them build a stadium with actual real seats.If you have to wait 3 years for the new stadium then they will probably announce it at the end of next season,that's what they did with me and Vitoria.

Cheers B.W.G. Now I want to finish my first year in the USL-Pro East division now as quickly as possible...

Firstly, the Markham Marauders are proud to announce that the club is turning professional. In a short statement released by the club, "The Markham Marauders are pleased to announce that we are turning Professional we enter the 4th tier of the American Soccer Pyramid. The entire club is very excited that we have made such great strides since our humble beginnings and we will continue to look to progress up the leagues. We would like to thank everyone involved, from the coaching staff led by Head Coach/GM Ricky Nakano, the players, and our loyal fans for their support to make all of this possible."

Contract Extensions

The Markham Marauders have announced the contract extensions of 2 players:

Navin Simon (DC/DR), has signed a 4 year contract extension until 2021 with the club. His base salary will be $10,500, with an annual wage increase of 5%.

Angelo Carmelo Matheison (MC), has signed a 5 year contract extension, until the end of 2022. He will earn $8250 in the first year of his contract, with annual 10% increases.

"The Markham Marauders organizations are excited to sign these two young players to long term contract extensions. We feel that these two players are a big part of the core at the club and our commitment to both of them is a sign that we're serious about competing and winning on the pitch."

2018 Youth Intake

For the first time, we have an intake where a player is not from Markham, but nearly Scarborough. Not surprised the player is half Indian either, as there's lots of South Asians in Scarborough...

Robert Stillo - A striker/winger who can fit into the system. He's a player who can fit in right away. He's also versatile which is something I like.

Cordell Lumley - a quality left back with a lot of potential. He's behind Lopez on the depth so he won't be starting right away.

And the Youth Player of the intake is...

Niksa Cotic (YP 2018) - he doesn't seem as impressive as Stillo and Lumley, but on closer look he's a fine player. Yes, he's a bit weak (ok, very weak!!!), but he's only 15 and will have a chance to improve in the future and be a fixture in the midfield.

We have also offered out contracts for Patrick Heroux and Jack Naylor. We need some defenders and they will provide some depth for the upcoming season.

Odd about the stadium. I hope that they are actually building it. I noticed that even after my stadium was built, my Board tab still showed that it wouldn't be finished for another 11 months, yet my Facilities tab updated no problem. Odd.

Odd about the stadium. I hope that they are actually building it. I noticed that even after my stadium was built, my Board tab still showed that it wouldn't be finished for another 11 months, yet my Facilities tab updated no problem. Odd.

Well I'm in April already and the progress bar has moved a bit so I assume everything is going to plan...I hope. We just have to play some good football and get 30 points for survival.

For now, our lack of depth at the back 4 and the 'keeper is a concern...

Originally Posted by B.W.G

Congrats on turning pro,also nice to see Canada may have some kind of future in football afterall

The Markham Marauders will be the catalyst for the future of Canadian soccer.

What happened to Spain and Argentina!?!? Changing of the guard methinks?

No idea mate. It was very strange to say the least, especially since I had both of those leagues loaded so it's not like they're short on talent...

Originally Posted by Raware

Flying through the leagues now and great news about the stadium (even if you don't know anything about it! ).

MLS here you come!

Our flying through the leagues will probably stop for now, as this tier is very challenging.

Not going to jinx myself, since we're in the lower half of the league after the split, but we should survive. We just have a major problem with goal scoring, last in the league.

Also, we're losing lots of money due to wages, youth setup, and the lovely 'Other' expenditure, probably the only consequence of being a Professional club. Hope we got enough money at the end of the year to get a new stadium.

Standings | Past Positions | Fixtures - I had a chance in the last game before the league split to finish in the top half but we lost. Fortunately, we did well against the bottom half of the league and finished a solid 12th place. We also rediscovered our offense and we were unbeaten in our last 8 games. North American Open Cup - Unlucky that we lost to the Austin Aztec in the 1st round proper. We got hit with a late goal and we couldn't convert on penalties.

USL Cup - In our first appearance in the USL Cup, we managed to get to the Quarter-Finals, but unfortunately lost to Indiana United in extra time.

Ontario Cup - we couldn't beat a team we were supposed to beat, but at least we didn't have a fixture congestion later.

Squad - Our goalkeeper and defense are definitely my weak link. In short, Mitch Fletcher was making stupid decisions and even though some goals weren't his fault, we needed a new 'keeper just to try and spark something, and John Cain started the rest of the way. Earl Oppong, Emilio Rotundo, and Tyler Bishop are 3 defenders who has been at the team for many years, but the star levels indicate they're clearly not good enough for this level, and will be released, freeing up nearly $50k in salary for next season.

Youth Players:

Radford Sinclair (YP 2012) - He's just not good enough anymore. I might consider selling him just to free up some wages, that is if anyone wants him in the first place.

Anthony Baker (YP 2013) - He did alright. He didn't play a lot because I played with a lone striker (Cavalluzzo) because we were getting destroyed earlier in the season.

Angelo Carmelo Matheson (YP 2014) - A solid season as usual. He was consistent even though his production fell (tbf, this was a high level of competition for him and the rest of the squad)

Brian Hussein (YP 2015) - He got better as the season went on. This level is his ceiling so hopefully he can maintain this production. I might not sign him to a pro deal though, and keep him on the team on youth contract.

Niksa Cotic (YP 2018) - First youth product to not get a single game this season. We're stacked in the midfield and it'll be hard for him to make it...

Other notables:

Sasa McCallum - He's developing into a really solid player. He won't be the quickest guy, but good luck winning a battle in the air against him. Unfortunately, signing him to a Professional contract will be a pain, since he also has an agent, but hopefully both sides can agree on a fair contract that also won't handcuff us financially.

No idea how we average 5 less people than the 2017 season....but we could still use a new stadium. American Luis Yao is our new owner and hopefully he can fulfill the promise of a new stadium. Hopefully we can get some news in November.

Much of the same in the league please, although I want a top 10 ranking before the split to guarantee at least $500k in prize money, because we can certainly use the money.

Nice work on survival How does the playoff system work in that league? I noticed that 4 of the teams have the playoff letters next to them but none of them actually got promoted, or did you just screenshot before the playoffs had been played?

Well, that's our new stadium! The stadium capacity is 2725, which isn't bad since if we sell out the stadium, we would have the 7th largest attendance in the division. Unfortunately, we have to pay $13.5k in a loan (which isn't all that bad actually...) until October 29, 2033! Hopefully this save will last till 2033...

Happy it's going to be completed on New Years Day 2020. So one more year in that tiny stadium!

Nice work on survival How does the playoff system work in that league? I noticed that 4 of the teams have the playoff letters next to them but none of them actually got promoted, or did you just screenshot before the playoffs had been played?

Cheers Scarman.

The playoffs are (2) vs (5) and (3) vs (4), and then there's a final to determine who gets promoted. I took the screenshot before the playoffs started.

MARKHAM - After a series of tough negotiations between the Head Coach/GM of the Markham Marauders soccer team Ricky Nakano, and Sasa McCallum and his agent Mark Rajkovic, both sides are happy to agree to a 3 year contract extension worth approximately $100,000. In the 2019 season, the defender will earn $32,500, with 10% annual wage hikes. These hikes will push the contract to about $107,575 in base salary.

With his contract set to expire at the end of the season in a month's time, Nakano and McCallum wanted to get the contract done as soon as possible. "We didn't want to drag the negotiations for a long time, because Sasa is a fantastic player and we wanted to do what's best for the team, and that's Sasa in a Markham Marauders shirt for at least the next 3 seasons."

With the recent announcement by the team to build a new stadium, this announcement of the signing of McCallum comes as another dose of good news. "It's really a good time to be a fan of the Markham Marauders soccer team," Nakano continued, "we want to build something that the fans in the Markham will love to see, and the soccer team is something I think is a must watch for fans whether they like soccer or not. We will prove on the field that we can win and play entertaining soccer at the same time."

As with Sasa, he couldn't be more thrilled with the news, "I'm really excited that my representatives and coach Nakano were able to agree to terms on a new contract. From the beginning, I knew that the organization wanted me here long term, and no matter what we were going to get this contract completed. I want to thank the Marauders coaching staff and my teammates, as well as my family and friends for all their support, because I wouldn't be here without them. "

In his career, he has had the following accomplishments:

2015: Shortlisted for Colonial Division 2 Defender of the Year

2016: Shortlisted for Colonial Division 2 Defender of the Year (won 2016 Colonial Division 2 Defender of the Year Award)

2017: Shortlisted for Colonial Premier League Defender of the Year (won 2017 Colonial Premier League Defender of the Year Award)

No one really stood out except one, but I signed a few players anyways because I really really needed the depth...

Best of the intake: Steve Franks (1 gold star ability/5 gold star potential) - I didn't really want another midfielder, but we got another one...he's got decent attributes. I could turn him into a centreback possibly....

Other players signed:

James Alexander (3 silver star ability/5 gold star potential) - We need another developmental 'keeper so Alexander will be the one. He's got more potential than all the other ones (for now) but he's not ready for first team action just yet.

We also signed 3 centrebacks, with my strategy to hopefully find that 'next Sasa McCallum with better agility and acceleration and technical ability':

Kennedy Hamilton (4.5 silver star ability/4.5 gold star potential) - I think he's the most advanced of the 3 with the most potential. For a 15 year old, he has good starting attributes in tackling, marking, and jumping. His mental attributes aren't all that bad and will get better. His strength isn't a concern to me, as I had to build McCallum's strength as well and look where he is now. I don't think he will be better than McCallum physically, but he'll be better technically. His very strong left foot has also made me decide to train him as a left back.

Edis Hadziresic (4.5 silver star ability/4 gold star potential) - the #2 CB prospect that I signed this year IMO, Hadziresic is already a physical beast at 15. His mental attributes are also very very good for a 16 year old, and if he can work hard, I think he can reach his potential. A very strong right foot means he'll be trained as a right back.

Sander de Haas (2.5 silver star ability/3.5 gold star potential) - out of the 3, he might need the most development. A very aggressive 15 year old, he also has ideal jumping and heading attributes. Like the other 2, he needs to hit the weight room. He also has a PPM 'Stays at back at all times', so at least he's got the mindset that defense always comes first!

Congrats on survival and nice to see a new stadium being built,the future is looking bright.

Cheers B.W.G, I'm certainly excited about the future. Having the potential of 5 times as much revenue from gate receipts and season ticket sales will enable us to improve facilities and keep our players who want new contracts...

Originally Posted by PaulHartman71

great to see further progress up the tiers as well as a new stadium well on the way!

Cheers Paul. Now we just have to establish ourselves in the USL-Pro East division. We have had some very encouraging results to begin the season already.

MARKHAM - The Markham Marauders and Enrico Cavalluzzo have agreed to a 3 year contract worth $160,000. His new contract will pay him $62,000 a year, with 10% annual increases.

"We're excited to make a big investment with Cavalluzzo," head coach/GM Ricky Nakano stated, "we know this is a lot of money for a club of our caliber, but if there's anyone we would like to keep hold of at the top, Enrico would be one of those players. The development he has shown over the course of his career with us has been outstanding."

In 15 games this season, Cavalluzzo has scored 12 goals and 3 assists, leading the Markham Marauders into 5th, 11 league games into the season.

I rejected another offer for him and his agent wanted to get a new contract so I more or less had no choice, because this same agent represents 3 of my other players and I definitely can't have a bad relationship with him.

They still need to fix agents for North America. Every time they ask for agent money, I feel as though I'm paying a bribe.

Probably best to kick up a fuss to SI or the NA head researcher (Aljarov??). Disappointing that something absolutely illegal in American sports is allowed in FM. Just signed Angelo Carmelo Matheson to a new contract as well, 73 grand a year and we're way over the budget now. I'm planning to sell him after the season though, I just wanted to keep his agent on good terms since he's representing 5 of my players now....

I only don't mind now because the board will bail me out if we're in financial trouble.

Standings | Past Positions | Fixtures - Overall it was a fantastic season, but a bit disappointing to miss the playoffs by 2 points. We did score a lot of goals though, but unfortunately, we also conceded a lot. North American Open Cup - I'm happy we made to the 2nd round, but unfortunately we couldn't get past the Real Maryland Monarchs.

USL Cup - lost in the 3rd round to the Chicago Magic in an unlucky extra time.

Radford Sinclair (YP 2012) - He didn't even play much on loan. His time is done with the club. He will end his time with the Marauders with 190 appearances, 70 goals, 47 assists and a 7.06 average rating.

Angelo Carmelo Matheson (YP 2014) - Unfortunately he kept complaining about a new contract and I gave it to him. I don't think he deserves it but I want to keep his agent happy. If we can get some young midfielders to take on a bigger role at the club I wouldn't mind selling him if we can get a good fee.

Brian Hussein (YP 2015) - He was injured most of the season, and he hasn't developed as well as I hoped. His days might be numbered as well.

Enrico Cavalluzzo (YP 2017) - The main scorer all season. We're really reliant on him and I hope we can give him some support because if he's not on the top of his game we don't win. I tried out Giacomi and Stillo and I'm still hoping to find someone to play up front with him.

Niksa Cotic (YP 2018) - He's in contention for a rotation spot next season, depending on the wage restructure he could start.

Mark Lewis - Lewis is another developmental defender. Compared to my 3 prospects last year, I think he's more advanced. He can already jump very well, and solid physicals that can be improved.

Nikola Puzigaca - He's just a bit of depth since I lost a midfielder to free agency. He's just another body for 3 seasons.

Fernando Di Pietro - He has the potential to be a leading USL winger, but we'll see. He needs a lot of work...

Miomir Mitrovic - I need an extra striker, so he'll be it. He doesn't have much potential though, but he can contribute at this level.

And the Youth Player of 2020 is....

Carlos Silva - All I gotta say is WOW! And I can even confirm he did indeed sign a youth contract with us! I'm going to have to set him on a training schedule to help out with his strength, and the rest of his attributes should improve with playing time!

Only 2 points off a playoff spot isn't bad. Hope you're able to sign all the players you want to return.

Brown was the only player I wanted to resign so that's perfect.

In stadium news, construction has finally been completed! Of the 2725 seats, 681 of them are seated. Hopefully this is the start where we can continue to push up the leagues with the extra stadium revenue. I don't really intend to mount a serious challenge into the USL league just yet, as I still think we're a striker away, but this year I want playoffs!

Pedro Lopez has signed a new 5 year contract, worth $41,500 per year, with an annual 10% wage hike. His new contract will expire at the end of 2024.

Jan. 6

Lorenzo Colonna has signed a new 3 year contract extension worth a total of $50,000. He will earn a slight raise to $17,000 a year. His contract has a 5% annual wage increase.

Jan. 10

Enrico Cavalluzzo has signed a new 5 year contract worth $350,000. Like Lopez's contract, it will now end in 2024. I think it's a big coup for us, because his contract was set to end in 2021, and now that I can offer up 5 year contracts because of the money we have, I can just add on another 3 years with the exact same terms, just paying a minimum agent fee ($2000) to seal the deal.

Unfortunately though, I can't seem to resolve McCallum's contract situation, because I can't offer what he wants (and deserves). I have 70 grand in cap room too (and he only wants a $35k raise which in theory should be fine...). Stupid Matheson and his contract.

Tough break that you can't offer the player a contract he deserves. Would that put him out of reach for your league in general?

I think we will be okay. I have to make a tough decision though between Matheson and McCallum. And I would choose McCallum because I don't believe Matheson deserves his contract, and it was more or less forced for me. We can resign McCallum, I just need more wage budget and will probably ask later on in the year (depending on our cup runs because that's the easiest way to make some income mid-season).

Originally Posted by Scarman

Carlos Silva looks incredible! Really should develop into a star player for Canada

And it's always good to open a new stadium with a win, first step in making it a graveyard for teams to travel to

Originally Posted by SRL88

I agree with Scarman .

Hopefully he doesn't develop too quickly, or else I have to offer a full-time contract early and I can't keep him under control for a full 8 seasons (3 years on youth contract, and 5 year pro contract) before his second contract (because that's when they'll start asking for a lot of money!

And then our second game we squeaked out a 1-1 draw with Hamilton FC, a team below us a tier or two.